Monday, December 10, 2018

I can't believe we are almost to the middle of December! This year we are trying to be creative, frugal, and just better with our money and only doing Christmas activities that are free. It has been more challenging than I thought it would be but I thought I would share our list with you because many of you are probably doing the same!

-Make sugar cookies and decorate them.

-Take dinner to a family in need.

-Go to your local Christmas tree lighting.

-Have hot chocolate (We are doing this daily!) and play games.

-Make gifts for your friends and neighbors with things you already have on hand in your kitchen and craft supplies.

-Look at Christmas lights in your neighborhood.

-Do service for the family members that are in your home.

-Make your own Christmas cards and order free 4x6 prints from Shutterfly to add to them. (B drew the pictures on ours!)

-Make ornaments out of popsicle sticks, paint, and glitter!

-Read Christmas stories as a family.

-Play hide and seek in the light of only your Christmas tree.

-Have a candy cane hunt. (My boys love this!)

-Serve, Serve, Serve! (Take out your neighbor's trash, scrape someone's window, etc. There are so many ways to get into the Christmas spirit with service!)

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Wow! It has been a while since I've been on here! It was so nice to take a break, but I keep having this nagging feeling that I'm needing to post more on here.

Many things have been going on with our family this summer and fall: We traveled to Utah and Idaho for a wedding and to visit family, B took swimming lessons and was so brave, we explored Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire, and spent many hours in the sun!

B started kindergarten in September and E has been loving his time with me at home!

My husband's schedule this residency year (so far) has been very chill and he's been around so much more! That will be changing the beginning of the year, but we are trying to soak it all in now!

Last but not least, we found out this summer that Baby #3 is joining our family in early March 2019 and it's a GIRL!!! We are so excited!

I hope to share more about this pregnancy and our lives in the coming weeks!

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Brenen officially starts residency on Saturday and so I thought I would write down what I think it will be like and then compare it with what it's really like a year from now!

It will definitely be hard and I will probably feel like a single parent most days. We probably won't eat many meals together and there will be Sundays I have to go to church by myself with the boys. I need to stay positive and supportive of Brenen, especially on the days where he says he'll be home at a certain time and two hours later he's walking through the door exhausted. I need to be a good mom for the boys and get out and take them places- (playgrounds, walks, beach, play dates).

Writing all of this is making me really sad and almost bringing me to tears, but it will all be worth it in four years. We just have to always say our prayers, read scriptures, and go to the temple.

WE CAN DO THIS! The first year of residency was SO.HARD, but we got through it! Everything that I thought would be hard was and so much more. It's so crazy to think that we've been in Boston one year! I have grown so much and surprised myself in so many ways. I know a huge part of that has been from taking care of myself (exercising) and getting my anxiety under control (medicine and therapy).

Brenen is so, so, SO glad to never have to repeat this year! He's gone through a lot, with people being rude and jerks to him, working long hours (120 hour/weeks), loosing 15 pounds his first month, not knowing when he'll eat that day, bike seats being stolen, giving a stranger a ride at 2:00am, assisting countless surgeries, me reading test questions to him on the phone as he drives to the hospital and barely finishing it with 20 minutes to spare, and becoming a pro at stitching up facial wounds.